Annandale Hotel17 Parramatta Rd
Annandale, Sydney
Guess who's back! Yes - The Annandale Hotel is back thanks to the folks at Oscars Hotels. Great news!It's a little bit different to its past look - they've put quite a bit of time and money into revamping the place - but it still has links to its musical past around the walls and even outside.
Having been there many a time to watch some great bands over the years it's just so good to see the Annandale back again. The stage is now at the front - the Parramatta Rd end - and it's smaller. There's a front room with a long bar, a back indoor/outdoor room and a separate side diner/bar area as well. Of course it's a hotel so they have plenty of different drinks available. They also have food as well - from breakfast through till dinner.
It wasn't a usual trading night when we were visiting because it was their Grand Opening - or Grand Re-Opening. Nevertheless, there was plenty of food being served all night - and it was very tasty.
Not sure if these are on their usual menu but the small cones filled with a salmon mousse and poppy seeds were delicious - I had about four of them!
The kitchen was really working overtime because the Annandale Hotel was packed. They seemed to handle it pretty well though because the food just kept on arriving. The quiches had a nice pastry shell and the filling of mushroom and goats cheese was very light and delicious. I can never eat just one Peking duck pancake and this was no exception. They kept going past and I kept taking them. Mlady was far more restrained only having a few.
The seafood sliders were also tasty, but being a bit later and a bit bigger than some of the other food made us both limit ourselves to one each. We were probably to absorbed in the performance by Gossling - and The Annandale are due to have plenty more live performances too - including local and international artists. Don't expect hard rock every night like bygone days - they'll have singer songwriters, hip hop and even bluegrass will be heard from time to time.
The menu at The Annandale Hotel has been put together by their Executive Chef John Rankin (formerly of Waitan). Expect a good range of dishes from breakfast till dinner. They have an indoor/outdoor area at the rear with quirky retro tables, chairs and other furniture, a main room where the live music is located and their long bar and a side room with another bar with booths down the wall. There's plenty of different areas for plenty of different uses!
Sir and Mlady were invited to the media launch of The Annandale Hotel. Special thanks to Oscars Hotels and Rachel for inviting us.
